Fights in Shining Armor: Chinese warriors relive history in ancient armor

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Battle of the Nations is not just about fighting and winning. It's also an arena for fighters from different countries to show off their weapons and armor. Let's now take a look at how the Chinese team are bracing themselves for battle.

Courage, strength, agility and glory.

Since 2017, these western knights have got themselves a new challenger: a group of Chinese warriors waging war on their enemies with their distinctive and powerful weapons and armor.

Guandao is the first weapon the Chinese team brought to the games. The legendary combat weapon was wielded by Chinese general Guan Yu in the 14th-century classic novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It has a heavy blade with a spike on the back, and is used for delivering strong and powerful slashes. Its main purpose is to disarm an opponent and deflect his strikes at long range.

But when it comes to close range combat, the Chinese team has another trump card to play—the San jian dao. This deadly weapon comes with a trident-like upper section and sharp side edges. Chinese foot soldiers in the 12th and 13th centuries used this formidable weapon to break the enemy's heavy armor.

To build the strongest possible army, an impenetrable armor is also a must for fighters to endure potentially life-threatening blows.

This is a 36-kilogram, Ming Dynasty-style armor worn by the Chinese team. It has metal plates scaling down the arms and rectangular plates of metal, riveted between layers of fabric with securing rivet heads visible on the outside. With decent weight and range of motion, this style of armor worked well against the glancing slashes of horsemen, or the piercing strikes of lances.

The guandao, the sanjiandao, their armor, and a variety of other weapons, will be sure to pose a grave threat to other teams. But the straw that will break the camel's back will be the Chinese team's sheer determination. CGTN.